Towers may be employed for a plurality of applications. For example, towers are employed to transmit resources such as energy, oil, water, etc. or information from a first location to another. The information being propagated from a first point to a second point may be network related, energy related, communications related, or the like. In another context, a tower may be situated to collect information about a location, such as weather or other environmental information. Towers may be situated to support equipment, such as wind turbines or the like. Towers may serve as a smoke stack or other similar functions in power generating stations, factories or the like. Towers in this application, may be, but not limited to, latticed towers, guyed masts and pole structures.
A tower may be situated in numerous contexts, environments, and locations. Thus, the tower may be affected by various external phenomena, such as natural disasters, environmental conditions, physical contact, or normal wear and tear. Thus, as a tower interacts with the various external phenomena, the tower's efficacy may be compromised. In certain situations, if a tower is misaligned, the tower's ability to be a host or provide a service may either be lessened or effectively be cancelled.
Conventional techniques for handling situations as described above require engaging a technician to inspect each tower, or fixing a tower after the tower has become inoperable. In the former case, engaging a technician may be costly, ineffective, and a non-robust solution. Further, certain towers may be in areas that are geographically remote, and thus, not very easy to travel to.
Further, in the latter case, if towers are repaired after a problem is detected, considerable downtime may be experienced. Because the tower is compromised (and in some cases beyond repair), the system associated with the tower may be rendered inoperable until the tower is either repaired or replaced.
FIGS. 1(a) and (b) illustrate several deleterious conditions that may lead to tower 100 problems related to structural integrity. The problems shown related to wind 11, 12, 150, water, earthquakes 160, foreign objects 170 (i.e. a person or vehicle), a guy failure, and the like. Essentially, as shown in FIGS. 1(a) and (b), numerous conditions may occur that cause a tower to fail. In particular, the figures illustrate multiple types of deformations: rotation MO and displacement 110, 120, 130.
Conventional techniques for detecting deformations are solely directed to rotational detection. However, problems may occur due to the displacement of a tower, and thus, these problems may be left unaddressed in detecting, monitoring, and repairing issues affecting tower implementations.
Thus, the conventional techniques for addressing tower related problems associated with structural integrity are lacking for at least the above-stated reasons.